Minecraft players are placed in a vast open world with a variety of different biomes. Because of how large the world can be, players will likely need to get creative to make trips as fast as possible. Especially when they run across the enormous open oceans and lengthy rivers that the overworld in Minecraft has. In order to craft a boat in the game and make trips smoother, players can look to this guide for help.
There are a number of different reasons behind building a boat in Minecraft and, fortunately, the required materials are relatively easy to gather. In order to craft a boat, players just need 5 wooden planks as well as a wooden shovel.
How to Make a Boat in Minecraft
The recipe for a boat in Minecraft's Bedrock and Education editions calls for five matching wooden planks as well as a wooden shovel. In the Java edition, players just need to gather five matching wooden planks. Wooden planks can be created without a crafting table from wooden logs and to get at least 5 players just need to gather 2 logs. The shovel must be wooden and it be created with a combination of two sticks and a single wooden plank.
There are a number of different trees in Minecraft and these grow in different biomes. This means that regardless of where players end up in the overworld, a boat should be craftable. All boats share the same design but they can be crafted in six different colors. The color options are related to the wood chosen: oak, spruce, birch, jungle, acacia, or dark oak.
What Can a Boat be Used for
The main usage for a boat in Minecraft is transportation across the water. Oceans and rivers are often encountered in Minecraft and a boat is one of the quickest ways to get across. For those looking to make a quick path though, boats are quickest on ice.
Boats travel at a rate of 8 blocks per second on water, a mere 2 blocks per second on land but a wild 57 blocks per second and 72 blocks per second on regular ice and blue ice, respectively. Making a path in a player's base with blue ice ensures incredibly fast movement.
Players can also turn to boats in order to transport materials, animals, and even villagers. Because boats can carry up to two creatures at a time, players have been able to effectively 'trap' the animals and villagers they want in them and transport them back to their base. This is especially useful for exotic creatures that only live in specific biomes and for those Minecraft players who plan on breeding villagers to make trading easier.
Other, less common, usages of boats include as fuel in a furnace (they burn for 60 seconds) and as a tradeable good with master-level fishermen in villages. A boat can also be exchanged for an emerald in Minecraft.
Minecraft is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and various other platforms.